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Tuesday, 23 December 2014

Pope Francis and the Daily Mail.

Regular listeners to my sermons would not automatically expect me to write an article that would embrace both the Pope and the Daily Mail in a positive way. Yet to its credit, the Daily Mail has produced quite a challenging article on Pope Francis' Christmas message, which in itself was a challenge to the Curia, the most senior RC leaders.

What's that got to do with Baptists you may well ask? Quite a lot. The Pope's speech wasn't about Marianism, theology or grand plans, but connecting with Christ and connecting with God's people. So below are the 15 criticisms of the Curia, and I can't help thinking that Christian leaders everywhere shouldn't be reflecting on them too - as, quite remarkably, the Daily Mail also points out. In fact everyone who follows Christ should reflect on what he's said because we're all guilty of some of it sometimes!

Members of the Curia receive the Pope's speech enthusiastically - not!

ARE YOU GUILTY OF ANY OF THE POPE'S '15
AILMENTS OF THE CURIA'?

During today's Christmas speech Pope Francis read out 15 sins that
he believed the Curia was guilty of complete with footnotes and
Biblical references. These included:

2) Working too hard. 'Rest for those who have done their work is
necessary, good and should be taken seriously.'

3) Becoming spiritually and mentally hardened. 'It's dangerous to
lose that human sensibility that lets you cry with those who are
crying, and celebrate those who are joyful.'

4) Planning too much. 'Preparing things well is necessary, but
don't fall into the temptation of trying to close or direct the
freedom of the Holy Spirit, which is bigger and more generous than
any human plan.'
5) Working without coordination, like an orchestra that produces
noise. 'When the foot tells the hand, 'I don't need you' or the hand
tells the head 'I'm in charge.''

6) Having 'spiritual Alzheimer's.' 'We see it in the people who
have forgotten their encounter with the Lord ... in those who depend
completely on their here and now, on their passions, whims and
manias, in those who build walls around themselves and become
enslaved to the idols that they have built with their own hands.'

7) Being rivals or boastful. 'When one's appearance, the color of
one's vestments or honorific titles become the primary objective of
life.'

8) Suffering from 'existential schizophrenia.' 'It's the sickness
of those who live a double life, fruit of hypocrisy that is typical
of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that academic degrees
cannot fill. It's a sickness that often affects those who, abandoning
pastoral service, limit themselves to bureaucratic work, losing
contact with reality and concrete people.'

9) Committing the 'terrorism of gossip.' 'It's the sickness of
cowardly people who, not having the courage to speak directly, talk
behind people's backs.'

10) Glorifying one's bosses. 'It's the sickness of those who court
their superiors, hoping for their benevolence. They are victims of
careerism and opportunism, they honor people who aren't God.'
11) Being indifferent to others. 'When, out of jealousy or
cunning, one finds joy in seeing another fall rather than helping him
up and encouraging him.'

12) Having a 'funereal face.' 'In reality, theatrical severity and
sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and insecurity. The
apostle must be polite, serene, enthusiastic and happy and transmit
joy wherever he goes.'

13) Wanting more. 'When the apostle tries to fill an existential
emptiness in his heart by accumulating material goods, not because he
needs them but because he'll feel more secure.'

14) Forming 'closed circles' that seek to be stronger than the
whole. 'This sickness always starts with good intentions but as time
goes by, it enslaves its members by becoming a cancer that threatens
the harmony of the body and causes so much bad — scandals —
especially to our younger brothers.'

15) Seeking worldly profit and showing off. 'It's the sickness of
those who insatiably try to multiply their powers and to do so are
capable of calumny, defamation and discrediting others, even in
newspapers and magazines, naturally to show themselves as being more
capable than others. (Daily Mail, 23/12/14)

Pity the DM missed out the Biblical References the Pope gave but I could find plenty of Biblical support for what he said.